Developing Human Capital through Neuro-Linguistic Programming

Developing Human Capital through Neuro-Linguistic Programming Eric Kong School of Management & Marketing, University of Southern Queensland, Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia [email protected]

Abstract: Human c apital ( HC) r epresents t he tacit knowledge t hat i s e mbedded i n t he m inds of pe ople in organisations. H C is i mportant t o or ganisations be cause it s erves as a source of innovation and s trategic renewal. Individuals carry HC when they join an organisation, though their level of HC theoretically increases with time in the organisation. Individuals also take their talent, skills and tacit knowledge with them when they leave an organisation. Thus HC is volatile in nature. It is therefore in the interests of human resource managers to recruit and develop the best and brightest employees as a means of achieving competitive advantage. One way of developing HC is through neuro-linguistic programming (NLP). NLP emerged in the 1970s from the University of California, USA. NLP suggests that subjective experience is encoded in terms of three main representation systems: visual, auditory, and kinaesthetic (VAK). NLP practitioners claim that people tend to have one preferred representation system over another in a given context. Relatively less research is conducted using the approach in developing HC in organisations. This paper critically reviews the literature and theoretically argues that since NLP pr imarily f ocuses on i ndividual internal learning, i t m ay be used as a practical approach to develop HC in organisations. E xamples w ill be us ed i n t he paper to i llustrate t he benefits of u tilising N LP i n developing knowledge in organisations. Future research direction and limitations will also be discussed. Keywords: Human capital; neuro-linguistic programming; knowledge and learning capability; visual, auditory and kinaesthetic systems

1. Introduction Individuals carry human capital (HC) when they join an organisation, though their level of HC theoretically i ncreases with t ime i n t he or ganisation. A h igher l evel of H C i s o ften as sociated with greater productivity and higher incomes or compensation. On the other hand, a loss of organisational memory due to individuals’ departure may be a threat to the organisation. Individuals take their talent, skills and tacit knowledge with them when they leave an organisation. Thus HC is volatile in nature. It is therefore in the interests of human resource managers to recruit and develop the best and brightest employees as a m eans of ac hieving c ompetitive ad vantage. O ne way of dev eloping H C m ay be through neuro-linguistic programming (NLP). As coined by Bandler and Grinder (1979), the title broadly denotes the view that a person is a whole mind-body s ystem w ith patterned c onnections between i nternal experience ( neuro), language (linguistic), and behaviour (programming) (Tosey et al., 2005). It is important to note that despite the title a nd its c onnotations, NLP has no d irect connection t o neur o-science, or t o c omputer programming, t hough t hese were f ields of i nterest t o i ts de velopers (Tosey a nd Ma thison, 2 003). Bandler and Grinder (1979) claimed that working with the way in which experience was constructed through s uch r epresentations had a wide r ange of pr actical a pplications, f rom a means of curing people of phobias in psychotherapy (See e.g. Davis and Davis, 1991) to ways of enabling managers to de velop ef fective s trategies t hat en hance or ganisational per formance ( See e.g. T hompson et al ., 2002). Today, NLP s eems most welcomed b y i nformal pr actitioner networks t hat encourage d irect us e of NLP’s s trategies while t he r elationship between N LP and academe has be en t enuous (Linder-Pelz and Hall, 2007). Tosey and Mathison (2008) also argue that the academic literature on NLP remains sporadic, scattering across various fields of practice such as education (See e.g. Craft, 2001), training and de velopment ( See e. g. T hompson et a l., 2002), coaching a nd per sonal de velopment (See e. g. Linder-Pelz and Hall, 2007), counselling and psychophenomenology (See e.g. Tosey and Mat hison, 2010), family therapy (See e.g. Davis and Davis, 1991), management auditing (See e.g. Ashok and Santhakumar, 2002) and marketing communications (See e.g. Mainwaring and Skinner, 2009). NLP suggests that subjective experience is encoded in terms of three main representation systems: visual, auditory, a nd k inaesthetic ( VAK) (Davis an d D avis, 199 1). As B andler and Grinder (1979, p. 7) emphasised, ‘... we’re not particularly interested in what’s ‘true’. The function of [NLP] modelling is to arrive at d escriptions w hich ar e useful’. Thus, N LP has been des igned t o be more pr actical r ather than theoretical. The practicality of NLP fits well into leaders’ and managers’ primary concern of the

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Eric Kong accuracy of prediction of a concept or model and whether that concept or model can guide them for daily decision making. Despite that NLP has endured across several fields for decades, very little research today has been conducted to offer a better understanding of the ap plication of NLP in knowledge m anagement and organisational l earning. T he s tudy c onducted by T osey et al. (2005), f or ex ample, ex amined t he relationships between NLP and m anagement l earning. H owever, their appr oach was pr imarily using NLP as an analytical method to identify linguistic differences in interviews through a longitudinal case study. Nevertheless, Tosey et al. (2005) have demonstrated that NLP is a structured and systematic means of mapping s ubjective experience and constructed r eality of people ex periencing transformative learning or coaching (Linder-Pelz and Hall, 2007). Despite that NLP has much potential relevance for, and application to, the practices of management learning, it would need more space to explore further (Tosey and Mathison, 2003). This paper argues that the VAK representation systems primarily focus on individual internal learning (Yemm, 2006) and thus NLP may be used as a practical approach to de velop HC in or ganisations. The paper looks how the NLP approach, particularly the three representation systems, may be applied as a set of strategies in organisations to assist in developing HC in organisations. In other words, the purpose of the paper is to identify what NLP is in the organisational context, how the representation systems might be useful for individual to enhance learning and then develop knowledge in organisations, and to explore the application of NLP as a conceptual framework to develop HC in organisations. As very little reliable data on the subject of developing HC through NLP has been made available for the c urrent investigation, a c ritical analysis of the relevant l iterature is ado pted which can provide a cogent and comprehensive perspective on the theoretical and practical aspects of whether NLP can help to develop HC in organisations. Bourguignon et al. (2004) argue that a literature-based analysis helps t o i ncrease t he l evel of clarity a nd pr ecision of a c oncept, w hich i s a ne cessity if w e ar e t o understand t he c onstitutive us e of N LP i n de veloping H C i n t he or ganisational context. Since t he findings revealed from the analysis are representative for the current state and progress of the field, this s tudy pr ovides i nsights t o hum an r esource s trategy s cholars an d pr actitioners on t he appropriateness and us efulness of dev eloping H C t hrough N LP i n t he or ganisational c ontext. This literature-based analysis is the first step towards understanding the application of NLP in enhancing HC in organisations. This is essential because it helps to present a call for further conceptualisation and future empirical examination to gain more validity (Serenko et al., 2009). The paper aims to provide a better understanding of NLP, and its application on both individuality in learning and organisational learning. Also, it aims to extend the academic literature on NLP and dispel some myths abo ut N LP a nd connotations individuals may already ha ve w ith t he approach. After critically r eviewing the l iterature, t he pap er ar gues t hat s ince N LP primarily f ocuses on i ndividual internal l earning, i t m ay be us ed as a c onceptual framework to dev elop and nur ture HC i n organisations. Examples will be used in the paper to illustrate the possible benefits of utilising NLP in developing k nowledge in or ganisations. F uture r esearch di rection a nd l imitations w ill a lso be discussed.

2. Human capital and neuro-linguistic programming 2.1 Human capital Human capital (HC) subsumes various human resource elements, including competencies, experience a nd s kills, a nd t he innovativeness an d t alents of peop le ( Bontis, 2 002, G uerrero, 2 003, Fletcher et al., 2003). It represents the cumulative tacit knowledge that is embedded in the minds of people in an organisation (Bontis, 1999, Bontis et al., 2002). Thus, even though an individual carries tacit k nowledge which m ay have s ignificant c ontributions t o t he organisation, it is of ten H C (cumulative tacit knowledge along with all other human resource elements) that creates most value to the organisation. Knowledge, particularly tacit knowledge, can only be created by humans but not by organisations and thus HC cannot be owned, but only rented (Kong and Thomson, 2009). Individuals bring in HC when they join an organisation, though their level of HC theoretically increases with time in the organisation (Grasenick and Lo w, 20 04). A hi gher l evel of H C w ithin t he or ganisation is of ten as sociated with greater pr oductivity and higher i ncomes or c ompensation (Wilson and Lar son, 2002). O n t he o ther hand, a l oss of organisational m emory d ue to individuals’ departure m ay be a t hreat to t he

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Eric Kong organisation as individuals take their talent, skills and tacit knowledge with them when they leave the organisation (Kong and Thomson, 2009). Theoretically, new employees, after a vigilant recruitment process, should replace the employees who departed from the organisation and the level of HC should remain the same. However, a full exploitation of the HC t hat em bodied i n new em ployees may s eem t o b e d ifficult, i f no t impossible (Kong and Thomson, 2009). This is because when an organisation acquires human resources in the external job market, it must undergo a period of dynamic adjustment costs before the best uses of the human r esources c an be discovered an d t ailored t o t he ne eds of t he ne w en vironment ( Hatch and Dyer, 2004). Besides, new employees’ prior industry experience may also affect their performance in the organisation, preventing them to unlearn and re-learn knowledge in the new environment (Hatch and D yer, 20 04). Thus H C i s v olatile i n nat ure. Human resource m anagers should not o nly pay attention on recruitment and selection of human resources, but also the development and deployment of HC as recruitment and s election a lone ar e not sufficient to ens ure c ompetitive adv antage (Kong and T homson, 2009) . Human r esource m anagers must ens ure t hat t hey r ecruit, develop and r etain the best and brightest employees as a means of deploying HC and achieving competitive advantage in their organisations (Kong, 2008). HC he lps or ganisations t o ef fectively r espond to environmental c hanges by s ensing t he n eed f or changes, d eveloping s trategies t o m eet t he c hanges and ef ficiently i mplementing t he s trategies f or complex an d dynamic env ironments (Kong an d R amia, 2 010). This i s b ecause HC i s the c ollective knowledge an d learning capabilities of an or ganisation, which c an be us ed t o ex tract t he b est solutions from the knowledge of its individuals for value creation (Bontis et al., 2000). Accordingly, HC can be a source of organisational innovation and strategic renewal (Kong and Ramia, 2010). HC must be developed strategically if the growth and competitiveness of a firm is to be sustainable. One way of developing HC in organisations may be through neuro-linguistic programming (NLP).

2.2 Neurolinguistic programming (NLP) Neurolinguistic pr ogramming (NLP) emerged i n t he 1970s f rom t he U niversity of C alifornia, USA. Richard Bandler and John Grinder, the original developers of NLP, were involved in mathematics and linguistics (Carter, 2 001). Muc h of w hat Bandler an d G rinder (1979) identified and d eveloped was based on t he work of w ell-known linguistics ex perts and since t hen the t erm ‘neuro-linguistic’ has been widely used (Yemm, 2006). As described by Linder-Pelz and Hall (2007), ‘[t]he ‘neuro’ refers to the way h umans ex perience t he world t hrough t heir s enses a nd translate sensory experiences i nto thought processes, both conscious and unconscious, which in turn activate the neurological system; ‘linguistic’ refers to the way we use language to make sense of the world, capture and conceptualise experience and then communicate that experience to others; and ‘programming’ addresses the way people code ( mentally r epresent) t heir experience and a dopt r egular an d s ystematic pat terns of response’. Thus, the title, NLP, broadly denotes the view that a person is a whole mind-body system with patterned connections between internal experience (neuro), language (linguistic), and behaviour (programming) (Tosey et al., 2005). NLP began as a m eans o f s tudying h ow people pr ocess i nformation, c onstruct m eaning s chemas, and perform skills to achieve results (Tosey and Mathison, 2008). Bandler and Grinder (1979) wanted to study pe ople w ho w ere excellent, identify the s pecific el ements t hat t hese peo ple c ould do t o achieve ex cellence, and then t each or impart t hese elements to ot hers i n order t o improve t heir performance. As described by Dilts (1998, p.30), ‘[t]he objective of the NLP modelling process is not to end up with the one ‘right’ or ‘true’ description of a particular person’s thinking process, but rather to make an i nstrumental map t hat allows us t o ap ply the s trategies t hat we ha ve m odelled i n s ome useful w ay’. Thus, NLP aims to replica w hat w orks and allows o thers t o f ind ev idence within it s practices of an ec lectic approach t hat dr aws f rom ( among other t hings) c ognitive-behavioural approaches, gestalt t herapy, hypnotherapy, family t herapy, an d br ief t herapy (Tosey a nd Mathison, 2008). The pr inciple of N LP i s to m ake hu man c apabilities a vailable for ot hers to l earn (Tosey and Mathison, 20 10). In s hort, NLP is ‘a s et of gu iding pr inciples, attitudes an d t echniques t hat e nable [individuals] to change behaviour patterns as [they] wish’ (Yemm, 2006, p.13). The N LP ap proach is interested in ho w p eople c onstruct t heir experiences through cognitive processes, rather than in seeking causal explanations in the past for why they experience the world as they do, or in the contents of a particular experience (Tosey and Mathison, 2008). Linder-Pelz and

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Eric Kong Hall (2007) also argue that the NLP method of communication is a useful approach for coaches as it allows them to codify and respond appropriately to their own and their clients’ experience. NLP can be used as an approach t o hum an c ommunications t hat c ombines c ognitive theory, s plit-brain processing, and sensory perception (Wood, 2006). The N LP a pproach suggests that s ubjective ex perience i s encoded in t hree s ensory r epresentation systems namely: visual, auditory, and kinaesthetic (Davis and Davis, 1991). Sadowski Jr. and Stanney (2002) describe that the visual system includes external images, as well as remembered or constructed internal mental images; the auditory system contains external sounds and remembered or contrived internal sounds and the internal dialogue (i.e., a person talking to themselves on the inside); and, finally, the kinaesthetic system comprises tactile sensations caused by external forces acting on the body and emotional responses. Practitioners of NLP claim that people tend to have one preferred representation s ystem ov er anot her i n a given c ontext (Ghacmi and J anvier, 2004). According t o Bandler and Macdonald (1988), each of the NLP sensory representations can be broken down more finely as ‘sub-modalities’. These sub-modalities are the building blocks of thought patterns, that is how each inner sense is composed (Alder, 1992). For instance, individuals with different representational systems may use different sub-modalities to describe their inner experiences towards the same object or ev ent. T able 1 bel ow s hows ex amples of s ub-modalities of V AK r epresentation s ystems w hen individuals are describing their experience of a location: Table 1: VAK representational s ystems and as sociated sub-modality distinctions (Adapted f rom Tosey and Mathison, 2010). Representation systems Sub-modalities in VAK representational systems to describe experience of ‘location’

Visual Size Distance Brightness Focus Colours (or monochrome) Frame Motion

Auditory Volume Pitch Tempo Rhythm Intensity Motion

Kinaesthetic Temperature Pressure Intensity Scope

As shown in Table 1, a person with a preferred visual representation system is likely to focus more on particular set of sub-modalities such as size, colours, and the degree of lights to describe their inner experience towards a location. The same location is possibly described differently by another person who has a different preferred representation system. NLP provides a visual, auditory and kinaesthetic (VAK) framework for individuals to become aware of the distinctions of t heir r epresentation s ystems as w ell as t he others ( Tosey a nd M athison, 2 010). Tosey an d Mat hison (2003) argue t hat h ow pe ople us e t heir s enses i nternally, and t he k inds of internal representations they create, are believed to be unique to every individual. NLP concentrates on how human beings go about making sense of their experience and interacting with others (Pollitt, 2010). Techniques in NLP involve the study of language patterns, patterns of motivation, how rapport is built, and how individuals code data (Thompson et al., 2002). NLP is often used to help its users— whether they are therapists, salespersons, or teachers—more quickly gain rapport with their subjects (Taler, 1991). One pr esupposition t hat NLP h as i s t hat p eople a ct ac cording t o t he way t hey understand a nd represent the world, not according to the way the world is (Tosey and Mathison, 2003). Skills, beliefs and b ehaviours are al l learnt, an d c onsist of sequences of r epresentations, t herefore c hange an d learning c an be ac hieved through m odifying r epresentations and s equences (Tosey and Mat hison, 2003). Tosey and Mathison (2003) argue that NLP is firmly systemic, or cybernetic, emphasising on the way p eople c reate, ac t according to, an d c an c hange a nd r econstruct, t heir o wn ‘ maps of t he world’. The c reation, ac tion, c hange and r econstruction of s uch maps, ac cording t o T osey a nd Mathison (2003), become central to NLP’s potential relevance to learning theory and the processes of education. Pollitt (2010) studied the use of NLP in Metronet Rail BCV Limited, a company which was responsible for the maintenance and renewal of London Underground Bakerloo, Central, Victoria and Waterloo and City lines, and argued that the NLP approach subsequently became a vehicle to drive and support the learning and development team, other colleagues and customers through Metronet’s integration into the London mayor’s transport organisation, Transport for London.

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Eric Kong As described by Tosey and Mathison (2008, p.5), NLP ‘aims to identify what is distinctive about the strategies of exemplars in a given skill, including internal cognitive as well as behavioural elements, such that other people can learn to perform the same skill’. Indeed, learning is often emphasised in NLP as the key to personal change and development (Tosey and Mathison, 2008). According to Dilts and DeLozier (2000), NLP does espouse underlying epistemological principles, concerning the processes through which people perceive, know and learn. As knowledge development is primarily an internal l earning a nd N LP m ainly f ocuses on i ndividual i nternal l earning to i mprove s elf-awareness and develop greater skills in self-management, communication and interpersonal dealings (Thompson et al ., 2002, Yemm, 2006) , it m ay be used as a practical approach to de velop H C in or ganisations. Unlike other NLP studies that focus on techniques and modelling, this paper simply looks at how NLP may be applied as a set of strategies for developing HC in organisations. An analysis of the relevant literature identified a number of issues in relation to the usefulness and limitations of developing HC through NLP in the organisational context, and these will be discussed in the following section.

3. Developing HC through NLP As hi ghlighted ear lier, N LP has a pr imarily f ocus on l earning. A nd learning i s t he f irst s tep t o accumulate knowledge, especially tacit knowledge in this case. Accordingly, NLP has a sound ground on developing HC in the organisational context. NLP presupposes that people are inherently creative and capable. Alder (1992) argued that there was no failure, but only feedback in the NLP approach. If something di d no t go as p lanned, one has s imply learned t he r esults an d t hen c hanged h is or her behaviours ac cordingly in or der t o r each the des ired o utcome. I t i s t his self learning ability that actually increases ef fectiveness ov er t ime as an u pward s piral of s elf-development and personal achievement is set in motion (Alder, 1992). Accordingly, NLP allows continuous learning to occur in individuals as they can use information and feedback to improve what they do. According t o B andler and G rinder ( 1979), p eople tended t o favour o ne of t hree representation systems to receive or access information. Taler (1991) used examples to describe: ‘People who are visual will tend to use language revealing this preference, such as ‘I see what you mean’ or ‘That is not clear’. O ne whose pr esence i s auditory will s ay ‘I hear you or that sounds right’. The s ubject favouring kinaesthetic w ill s ay ‘I'm in touch with you’ or ‘I just don't grasp it’. A pr actitioner [or w ell trained or ganisational m ember] who listens well will be ab le t o determine t he s ubject's identified representational system and respond in a similar representational system in order to gain the subject's c onfidence’. As a per son’s k nowledge, s kills and ex periences will be de veloped m ore effectively if information is gathered and processed through his or her preferred representative system during experience sharing and interpersonal interaction (Lavan, 2002). More importantly, as t he learning in N LP is f ocused on ex perience, s kills an d t acit k nowledge, if individuals know and use the techniques that match their preferred ways of learning, the individuals will likely learn more easily, quickly and naturally. Since it is more natural for the individuals to learn, it becomes easier for them to develop, internalise and utilise new knowledge that may create value for their or ganisations. In other w ords, N LP m otivates individuals t o ac quire k nowledge t hrough an enjoyable, successful and satisfying experience. Figure 1 below illustrates the relationships between VAK representation systems, learning and human capital.

Figure 1: VAK representational systems, learning and human capital.

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Eric Kong As c an b e s een f rom F igure 1 a bove, i ndividuals l earn their per ceived world through N LP representation systems, whether it is visual, auditory or kinaesthetic. New knowledge is likely developed, which will then be internalised and/or utilised for organisational value creation. This value creation, as a r esult of e nhanced H C, as sists or ganisations t o be m ore c ompetitive in t heir own environment (Kong, 2010). As NLP allows an individual to create new knowledge through his/her own learning style, the NLP approach is likely and arguably the most effective method to create learning and knowledge, which helps to enhance HC in organisations. Despite of these promising findings from the literature, there is a potential problem with NLP when it is applied i n d eveloping H C. N LP pr esupposes that p eople are i nherently c reative an d c apable. A s Tosey and Mathison (2003) argue, ‘NLP in our experience concentrates on the intrapersonal, intrapsychic pr ocesses of r eality c onstruction. I t at tends little, if at al l, t o t he social c ontext a nd intersubjectivity. I f i t i s a learning theory, it i s on e t hat em phasises i ndividual r ather t han s ocial learning’. As hi ghlighted e arlier, having or ganisational m embers t o dev elop, i nternalise a nd u tilise knowledge individually is not sufficient for nurturing HC. It is the cumulative tacit knowledge along with all other human resource elements that create most value to organisations. In other words, for NLP to be effective to develop HC in organisations, it must be used carefully and strategically. Indeed, NLP concentrates on how human beings go about making sense of their experience and interacting with others (Pollitt, 201 0). T echniques i n N LP a lso i nvolve t he s tudy of l anguage pat terns, pat terns of motivation, h ow r apport i s bui lt, a nd ho w i ndividuals c ode dat a ( Thompson et al ., 2 002). I n ot her words, there is an in-built mechanism in NLP that allows interactions between individuals to occur and tacit knowledge, skills and experience to be share. However, interactions are not shown explicitly in the N LP appr oach i n or der t o enc ourage m embers i n an or ganisation t o i nteract and s hare experience, skills and knowledge with each other. Leaders and managers must have a very clear idea of what they would like to achieve. External consultations and professional NLP trainers may need to be br ought in to emphasise the importance of sharing and c reating k nowledge for t he organisation. Only active interpersonal interactions allow the level of HC to increase dramatically. More research is needed to reveal what strategies are required to develop HC through NLP in organisations.

4. Conclusion NLP has endured for more than thirty years. As background on my own position and perspective, this paper is based on the discipline of knowledge management and organisational learning. It is my hope that the paper has enhanced our understanding of NLP and its potential for knowledge management and or ganisational l earning t hrough s cholarly enquiry. NLP a ims to d evelop individuals’ s kills in relation t o other people, by improving un derstanding of t heir t hought pr ocesses, behaviours and language (Pollitt, 2010). It can help employees to develop skills, knowledge and confidence, which not only improves pr ofessional l ives but al so g eneralises i nto i mproving areas of their personal lives (Lavan, 2002). It is a field of practice and innovation with a wide range of tools and techniques that learners and professional trainers can apply within both formal and informal learning settings (Tosey and Mathison, 2008). More research on strategies that foster the development of HC through NLP is needed.

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